Friday Reading List - 27 February 2026
One-sixth of the way through the year.
Good morning from Vienna, VA.
This week’s articles and newsletters
WPR - The Supreme Court Just Upended Trump’s Latin America Policy
Wednesday - Trump’s State of the Union included almost 1,200 words about his LatAm policies
Thursday - Milei’s economy: From surf the wave to kick the can
I’ll be in Colombia next week. So while I think newsletters will go out as usual, it’s possible that travel forces the schedule to be a bit different.
The Tuesday newsletter and Friday list of links remain free and without a paywall. Please subscribe to support this newsletter and receive additional content. Every week, paying subscribers receive Wednesday’s newsletter about US policy in Latin America and Thursday’s newsletter about Latin American politics and security. It’s $90 per year for individuals and $350 per year for institutions.
Reading List
Los Angeles Times - Inside El Mencho’s Arsenal: High-Powered Weapons, 400 Gunmen, Drones and Land Mines
Bloomberg - Sheinbaum Kills a Drug Lord and Crosses Her Rubicon
Crisis Group - Killing of Mexican Cartel Boss Brings Diplomatic Victory and Domestic Mayhem
Bloomberg - Hacker Used Anthropic’s Claude to Steal Sensitive Mexican Data
Crashout Media - The Paradox of Mexico’s Drug War and Peace
AP News - Cartel Violence Fuels Doubts About FIFA World Cup Games in Mexico
Economist - Brazil’s high court is caught up in a vast scandal
Al Jazeera - Brazil’s Supreme Court imposes steep sentences for Marielle Franco murder
Guardian - ‘The river won’: how campaigners in Brazilian Amazon stopped privatisation of waterway
Reuters - Trump administration taps far-right official for key Brazil post
Bloomberg - Colombia Eyes $6.7 Billion in Pension Assets Amid Fiscal Strain
AP News - Illegal Gold Mining Surges Into New Parts of Peru’s Amazon, Threatening Rivers and Lives
Bloomberg - Trump Takes Anti-China Crusade to Chile Ahead of Latin America Summit in Miami
Contra la Corrupción - El refugio del Mencho era un centro de lavado de dinero, alertó EEUU desde 2020
Americas Quarterly - Argentina’s Polarization Threatens Milei’s Pro-Market Agenda
El Faro - Hermanos Bukele compran tres nuevas propiedades en el Centro Histórico por $1.25 millones
Confidencial - Minería ilegal de oro “redefine” la relación entre Costa Rica y Nicaragua
Divergentes - Minería china en territorios indígenas de Nicaragua
Confidencial - U.S. Sanctions Five Ortega Officials Over Repression in Nicaragua
Confidencial - Las lecciones de Venezuela y Cuba para la codictadora de Nicaragua
Bloomberg - Panama to Occupy Canal Ports After Court Scraps CK Hutchison Deal
Financial Times - The Man Who Saw Too Much
Miami Herald - Caribbean leaders gather for annual meet amid U.S. pressure, regional strains
Bloomberg - Cuba Shoots Four Dead in Clash With Florida-Tagged Speed Boat
Miami Herald - Rubio urges closer U.S.-Caribbean ties, cites gangs, energy among shared interests
Bloomberg - Cuba-Bound Tanker Carrying Russian Fuels to Test Trump Blockade
Bloomberg - Trump Aims to Steer Cuba Toward Greater Dependence on the US
New York Times - Regime Change in Cuba Appeals to Trump but Carries Risks
Economist - Donald Trump’s oil embargo reveals a solar boom in Cuba
Chaufa - Trump’s LAC trade deals seek to limit China
PIIE - Trump’s Latter-Day Monroe Doctrine Aimed at China
UPI - China Isn’t Retreating in Latin America — It’s Recalibrating
US Select Committee on the CCP - Pulling Latin America into China’s Orbit
Bellingcat - Shipwrecks, Sham Papers and False Flags: Tracking the Company Behind It All
New York Times - Opinion: ‘It Is One of the Worst Mass Killings in Contemporary World History’
Venezuela stuff
Miami Herald - Inside the U.S. case claiming the Venezuelan government ran a drug empire
Reuters - Cuban Security Forces Exit Venezuela as US Pressure Mounts
ABC - EE.UU. pide a Venezuela la cabeza del hijo de Maduro y de otros ocho jerarcas chavistas
Wall Street Journal - Venezuela’s Leaders Killed the Economy. They Are Still In Charge.
Wall Street Journal - Violent Militias Stand Between the U.S. and Venezuela’s Vast Mineral Riches
InSight Crime - Cocaine and Venezuela’s Cartel of the Suns Post-Maduro
New York Times - The Fall of a Strongman: Inside Maduro’s Last Days in Power
Reuters - Venezuela Suspends 19 Oil & Gas Production Sharing Contracts Signed Under Maduro
Bloomberg - US Boards Third Venezuela-Linked Oil Tanker in Indian Ocean
Bloomberg - JPMorgan, BofA Favor Venezuela Bonds With More Unpaid Interest
NYT - Venezuela’s Capital, Laid Low by Misrule, Is Stirring Back to Life
El Pais - Juan Pablo Guanipa: ‘I have no doubt: Venezuela is heading towards elections’
Caracas Chronicles - Wait a Second… Who’s Enrique Márquez?
Guardian - ‘The American dream is a lie’: Venezuelans left in limbo and losing hope in Mexico
Thanks for reading
Have a good weekend!